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Topic: No PVR-250 Support??? (Read 6540 times)

First of all, I'm new to Plutohome, so I may be diggin in the wrong area. I have a V-Stream Xpert PVR-250. I tried to follow the directions, but my card is not listed. If it is, it's under a name that I don't know it by. I ran dmesg|grep bttv and it shows just fine. However, if I run dmesg|grep ivtv I get nothing. This is a BT878 chipset, so it should be supported fairly well. Am I missing something somewhere in the configuration in getting this card to work? I installed the ivtv firmware (latest version), and did a reboot on the system to make sure it was loaded. I know the card works in winblows, but why is it not working here? I have read other threads about the PVR and ivtv, but none of the solutions work since my card is not listed.

PVR-250 cards should work with the ivtv modules. To add your card to pluto, you shold use the pluto web admin interface.

Selecting Wizard=>Device=>Media Directors from the main menu should bring up a page that contains all you media directors. For the Media Director that your PVR card is in, select using the 'PVR Capture Card' combo box the 'IVTV Caputure Card' option then click the Update button located on the bottom of the page.

Next time your Media Director boots it will automaticaly install the packages required for your card to work.

No, it doesn't. If I use the web interface, it doesn't even show up. The only way I get it to work (under MythTV anyway) is to manually set the config options in an /etc/modprobe.d/bttv file (options bttv card=78 tuner=2). BUT that doesn't work for Pluto. It still won't work. All the web interface does is break stuff that shouldn't even be broken by this.

It's a V-Stream, not hauppuage. I had a typo. It is a Fusion BT878A chipset from Conexant, one of the early PVR chip makers. Officially it is a V-Stream (now Kworld) PVR-Plus BT878. I don't understand why bttv or Mythtv or other htpc packages don't pnp this card anymore. When I played with MythTV 2 years ago I had no issues whatsoever. Loaded myth, and it just worked. But beyond that, it still doesn't explain why the web interface breaks things. For example, I configured the PC Orbiter. I loaded the package on my PC, but it didn't look right. I went back to the Orbiter section and made a change. Then it wouldn't function at all except to connect.

Where is the documentation on how all this works, step-by-step? Just saying "go to the orbiter section and configure" doesn't really help at all. And while I'm at it, just what on earth is used to connect to the TV? Is that the MD? Is it something else? There is no clear statement that I have been able to find that says EXACTLY which component serves as the media client package. I was so pumped when I found this project, and now almost a week later I am so deflated about it. Heck, it didn't take me this long to figure out how to install Linux for the first time, and that was back in 1995 when it was a BITCH to get loaded!

It's no wonder Linux hasn't made it mainstream yet. Jesus the documentation sux weenies. If you're going to have an alternative to Micrcrap, the least you could do is make things easier to use, not more complex. Why do you think everyone is jumping on the Windows Media Server band wagon? Because you don't have to have a masters degree in software configuration to get it working! Christ, join the 21st century already!

Sorry for the silence, but my answers regarding the drivers are as thin as yours and Google's.

Quote from: "haarvik"

It's a V-Stream, not hauppuage. I had a typo. It is a Fusion BT878A chipset from Conexant, one of the early PVR chip makers. Officially it is a V-Stream (now Kworld) PVR-Plus BT878. I don't understand why bttv or Mythtv or other htpc packages don't pnp this card anymore. When I played with MythTV 2 years ago I had no issues whatsoever. Loaded myth, and it just worked.

V-Stream/KWorld has the bad habit of not writing subsystem identification values in their cards' EPROMs (if they have an EPROM that is - mine doesn't), thus they can't be really probed. Under Windows, you install the manufacturer-provided drivers and they just work, because they're card-specific, and you only have one card in your computer. Under Linux, you have one generic driver with card-specific settings that comes with the kernel. But for the card-specific settings to be detected, the card has to uniquely identify itself. In the V-Stream case, the card identifies itself as "generic", which seems to be different than the "generic" support in older bttv drivers (cx88 drivers, as for my card, never seemed to support "generic" cards by default without user interference).

Quote from: "haarvik"

But beyond that, it still doesn't explain why the web interface breaks things. For example, I configured the PC Orbiter. I loaded the package on my PC, but it didn't look right. I went back to the Orbiter section and made a change. Then it wouldn't function at all except to connect.

Wht do you mean by "it didn't look right"? Was the screen generated wrong? Notice that the Orbiter screens are pre-generated, so every time you make a change you have to regenerate the Orbiter screens.

Quote from: "haarvik"

Where is the documentation on how all this works, step-by-step? Just saying "go to the orbiter section and configure" doesn't really help at all.

Umm... it's supposed to be under the "My Pluto" link after you login on the main page. The "support site" and "online documentation" links, from the "Visit our support site to access online documentation, forums, bug reports, mailing lists and our quick start guide." line.

Quote from: "haarvik"

And while I'm at it, just what on earth is used to connect to the TV? Is that the MD? Is it something else? There is no clear statement that I have been able to find that says EXACTLY which component serves as the media client package.

You use a computer with a video card and an Orbiter. There's the Core, which the central part of the system, and there are the Media Directors, which are diskless computers booting from the Core's hard drive over the network. Usually, you'd be holding the Core in a closet or server room, and the Media Directors throughout the house. There's also this combination of a Core and a Media Director, called a Hybrid, which can be used standalone as it's a Core with an Orbiter and all the (needed) Media Director features installed.

Quote from: "haarvik"

I was so pumped when I found this project, and now almost a week later I am so deflated about it. Heck, it didn't take me this long to figure out how to install Linux for the first time, and that was back in 1995 when it was a BITCH to get loaded!

We had some (lots?) of shortcomings since we started this project and they're not over yet it seems. We still lack high-level user feedback a lot. To ourselves and our peers, the product seems to be working just fine, but there are these zones that could allow user tweaking that aren't present, like, in your case, the bttv module parameters. It's not like we're just standing and doing nothing, but there isn't much time to implement such tweaks as much weirder stuff needs to be taken care of on a daily basis.

I don't know why your modprobe.d file doesn't come into effect. I guess we broke something and don't know what and/or we didn't notice it. If you, or anyone else finds out what, I'd be more than happy to fix the system based on the collected/provided data.

Quote from: "haarvik"

It's no wonder Linux hasn't made it mainstream yet. Jesus the documentation sux weenies. If you're going to have an alternative to Micrcrap, the least you could do is make things easier to use, not more complex. Why do you think everyone is jumping on the Windows Media Server band wagon? Because you don't have to have a masters degree in software configuration to get it working! Christ, join the 21st century already!

We're doing our best here. Linux hasn't made it to mainstream yet mostly because of the lack of support from manufacturers and the lack of support from the potential users. Then again... Linux IS mainstream for a while now. Just ask Red Hat, Novell, Linspire (ex-Lindows), VA and others.

It is my opinion that the "alternative to Microcrap" doesn't consist in "irresponsible mass adoption" at all. It's an alternative to people who actually need an alternative because of the knowledge they seek, not because of the money they save. If you seek to save money, you never will. If you seek knowledge, people will try to obstruct you in your quest, but you'll always succeed sooner or later. End of Opinion

I hope this answers (some of) your questions. Feel free to reply, and I'll try to help you as much as I can.